"If the Russian mercenaries leave, we will return home": in Mauritania, where he fled the conflict tearing apart his native Mali, Mosso* speaks of the hope of returning home after the large-scale attacks suffered by the Malian army and its Russian allies of the Africa Corps on Saturday.

These coordinated attacks, carried out by Tuareg separatists from the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and jihadists from the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM, affiliated with Al-Qaeda), dealt an unprecedented blow to the junta in power in Mali since a coup in 2020, notably killing the Minister of Defense.

In the Mauritanian town of Fassala, on the Malian border, the crimes of Russian paramilitaries have left a painful memory for many refugees interviewed by AFP.

Here, they are still called "Wagner", after the name of the Russian private militia - which became "Africa Corps" - that has been supporting the Malian army in its anti-jihadist fight since the departure of French forces.

Sitting under a makeshift tent to escape the stifling heat of the Sahelian desert, Mosso* hopes for "the fall of (Assimi) Goïta", the head of the Malian junta, "because it was he who brought Wagner to our country", he says.

This 57-year-old nomadic Tuareg herder with a long white beard fled the Mopti region in central Mali three weeks ago when white men, whom he identifies as Russian paramilitaries, arrived at his camp and abducted men.

His own brother was killed by Russians in front of his then 14-year-old son a year ago, he reports.

In Mali, numerous civilians, accused of collaborating with the opposing side, are regularly subjected to reprisals and abuses by the army and its Russian proxies, or by jihadists. On April 20, three civil society organizations, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), filed a complaint with the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights concerning alleged violations committed in Mali involving the Malian armed forces and the Wagner Group.

Capture of Kidal

Images of a convoy of Russians leaving Kidal, a key city in northern Mali that fell under the control of the Tuareg rebellion last weekend, have sparked a cautious glimmer of hope among many refugees that the paramilitaries will leave their country.

Like Mosso, there are approximately 300,000 Malians who have found refuge in the Hodh Chargui region of Mauritania since the start of the conflict in 2012.

Located about fifty kilometers from the border, the Mbera camp now hosts 120,000 refugees who have fled the violence perpetrated by belligerents on all sides: jihadists, the Malian army, Russian mercenaries, and community groups.

In the sandy paths of the camp, Ahmed*, 35, "hopes for the return of peace and to go back to (his) country." He too says he wants the military in power to fall, "who have brought all the problems to the country."

"It's because of Wagner that everyone came here," says this Tuareg who wanted to flee the "amalgamation" made by the Malian army and their Russian auxiliaries.

With an affable look and skin weathered by the sun, Abdallah*, a 77-year-old Tuareg refugee, is not happy about last weekend's offensive.

"I am far from pleased that the FLA has retaken Kidal," he sighs. According to him, the alliance between the FLA and the jihadists is a mistake: "For me, JNIM is a terrorist movement. Their objective is completely incompatible with our ideology as moderate, pacifist Muslims."

The blockades imposed by JNIM jihadists on Malian localities since last October have caused a new wave of refugees arriving in the region, of nearly 14,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Tensions over resources

The hostilities of recent days in Mali have raised fears among humanitarian organizations of a new influx of refugees into this desert region where access to resources is strained.

"We are following the development of the situation with keen attention and deep concern," stresses Omar Doukali, UNHCR spokesperson in Mauritania.

In a Sahel that has become the global epicenter of jihadist violence, Mauritania, a vast desert country of 5.5 million inhabitants, stands out for its remarkable stability.

But the more than 300,000 Malian refugees are creating tensions "on pastures, on water resources and on all basic services, including health," notes Cheikhna Ould Abdallahi, mayor of Fassala, whose municipality hosts 70,000 refugees and who is worried about the intensification of fighting in neighboring Mali.

The situation there is more uncertain than ever. The FLA announced on Wednesday its intention to conquer the major cities of northern Mali and predicted the fall of the ruling junta in the face of its offensive.

With her one-year-old daughter in her arms, Tilleli*, 22, recounts her escape from Mali a month ago when Russians and the army looted and burned her village in the Mopti region (central Mali): "I can only return home after the Wagners leave my country," she says.

"I have no hope that there will be peace so soon," the young mother sighed.

AFP